Great Wall Leads to a Great Day

Today we took a trip to a little place called the Great Wall of China. Never in my life have I seen anything quite like this. This piece of architecture is truly a wonder of the world. Just the journey to the wall was incredible, as we got to see some really awe inspiring landscape as we drove through the mountains. Upon arriving, we hiked up a small part of the mountain where we were bombarded by shop keepers urging us to buy their merchandise, most of it being Great Wall paraphernalia. After the short hike we were able to ride a gondola up the rest of the way to the Great Wall where we saw even more incredible scenery. After jumping off the gondola we were able to explore the wall on our own. I still at this moment have a hard time comprehending that I walked on a piece of history such as this as just the first few steps were breathtaking. With the wall hugging the crests of the mountains, it was quite the hike at times. I've never been so exhausted in my entire life after just reaching the point where we decided to turn back. The wall at times literally seemed to go up at a 90 degree angle, it also didn't help that it was a clear day with temperatures reaching around mid 90's. In total, it took roughly two hours to travel from our meeting spot and back. We were also able to take a luge sled back down the mountain which turned out to be a good time as well. There was so much more that happened today but it would take a lot more than a single blog post to describe it. Today was our last full day in Beijing as we travel to Tianjin tomorrow.